22 August 2007
Spain approves the extradition to Russia of a foreign citizen accused of stealing Russian trawlers

Spain’s Council of Ministers upheld Russia's claim to extradite Abass Boughourbal, a citizen of Mauritania, to the Russian Federation. He is accused of unlawful appropriation of three fishing trawlers owned by the Russian Federation. This achievement was the result of well-coordinated actions by the Russian Federal Agency for Property Management, Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Russia, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Spain, the top management of the OJSC Arkhangelsk Trawler Fleet, Spanish lawyers and EPAM that represented Russia at the proceedings regarding the recovery of the trawlers.

At the session on July 27, 2007, the Council of Ministers of Spain has agreed on privileged extradition of Abass Boughourbal of Mauritania to Russia, and subsequently, to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Therefore, in the competition between the extradition requests filed by the Russian and Mauritanian law enforcement authorities, preference was given to the Russian request.

Abass Bougourbhal, who is accused of unlawful appropriation of three Russian vessels - Kapitan Kononov, Yuozas Aleksonis and Tralmeister Mogutov, that are a property of the OJSC Archangelsk Trawler Fleet, 100%-owned by the Russian Federal Agency of Property Management, which represents the Russian Federation - was detained in 2006 in Spain and subsequently released on bail.

In June 2004 the vessels were arrested while fishing in Mauritania. The arrest was the cause of a lawsuit brought in by the Mauritanian company Societe de Promotion de la Peche (SPP) against the OJSC Archangelsk Trawler Fleet accusing it of a failure to repay an alleged debt of USD 13m. Further investigation showed that the documents submitted by SPP as evidence of the debt had been forged. The ownership of the trawlers was transferred to Abass Boughourbal, a Mauritanian businessman, who, as the investigators believe, can be a front for high-ranking Russian officials. Seeking to retrieve its property, Russia instituted a number of lawsuits in various jurisdictions. A criminal suit was also filed against Abass Boughourbal and his accomplices resulting in the issue of a warrant for their arrest.

Dimitry Afanasiev, Chairman of EPAM comments: "The approval by the Council of Ministers of Spain to extradite Abass Boughourbal to Russia is an important precedent in the protection of the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation in Europe. It provides grounds for further recognition of Russian extradition requests by the European countries. Russia’s interests, represented by EPA&P , were first accepted by the Spanish judiciary and now by the government of Spain. We still face an assiduous task of helping the legitimate owner in recovering the trawlers and procuring reimbursement of the losses incurred.”

“The responsible, pro-national position of the Russian Federal Agency for Property Management, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Russia and the management of the OJSC Archangelsk Trawler Fleet has ensured successful protection of Russia’s interests” – Dimitry Afanasiev notes.

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EPAM is a leading national law firm in Russia with offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg and London. Founded in 1993, the firm combines extensive emerging markets experience with international professional standards. It regularly represents international companies doing business in Russia and Russian companies going international. EPAM regularly acts for the Russian Federation in transactional and litigation matters. The firm also frequently serves as Russian counsel to leading international law firms.